Published: 31/01/2013 04:24 PM

Opposition condemns Syria inaction after Israel air strike

Syria's main opposition chief on Thursday condemned President Bashar al-Assad's regime for its failure to take action against an Israeli air strike a day earlier.

"Shame on you, O regime of Bashar al-Assad, that the Israeli warplanes have come and your jets are only focused on destroying mosques and universities, and to kill civilians," Syrian National Coalition chief Moaz al-Khatib said.

"Your planes are watching and they do not stop the Israeli jets," he told Al-Jazeera television.

Khatib spoke to Al-Jazeera from Cairo, where the National Coalition is based. The grouping is recognized by dozens of states and organizations as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

The Syrian army has accused Israel of launching a strike on its military research center in Jamraya, near Damascus, on Wednesday.

Israeli officials and the military have declined to confirm or deny any involvement in the alleged attack and had no comment on separate reports that its warplanes had struck a weapons convoy along the Syria-Lebanon border.